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And co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed a Germanwings flight into the Alps killing 144 passengers and six crew in March 2015.

Yet he had previously been treated for suicidal tendencies and declared "unfit to work" by a doctor but Lubitz failed to tell his bosses and instead reported for duty.

Now a medical ethicist and barrister Daniel Sokol, writing in The BMJ, argued public safety should trump patient confidentiality.

He called for a law of compulsory disclosure to extend to patients deemed unfit to drive or fly.

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Phil Clarke and Rachel Clarke are calling for the strict disclosure to become law

He said the case of Poppy-Arabella "raises the familiar question about medical secrecy: should healthcare professionals breach confidentiality when a patient is unfit to drive?"

The trouble with this approach is that it relies on patients' honesty

Barrister Daniel Sokol

Currently General Medical Council (GMC) guidelines state doctors should explain to patients deemed unfit to drive their condition may affect their ability to drive.

They patient also has a legal obligation to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) about their condition.

If the patient continues to drive, the GMC advises that "you should make every reasonable effort to persuade them to stop."

If this fails the doctor should contact the DVLA to disclose the medical information.

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But he notes: "The trouble with this approach is that it relies on patients' honesty.

"As far back as Hippocratic times, doctors were instructed to look out for the lies of patients.

"Two and a half thousand years later the advice still holds true.

"In a 1994 study on 754 adult patients, it was found that 85 per cent admitted to concealing information from their doctors, and over a third said that they had lied outright.

"Many patients will lie to avoid the loss of their driving licence. They will falsely promise to inform the DVLA and to stop driving.

"And the chances of the doctor discovering that the patient is continuing to drive are slim.

"To rely on the assurances of patients, knowing that they lie to please others and to get out of trouble, is naive and irresponsible."

But he added: "Motor vehicles are lethal objects.

"They maim and kill innocent people just as efficiently as infectious diseases or terrorist attacks.

"Yet doctors in the public interest are required by law to report patients who have certain infectious diseases or who may commit terrorist acts - but not patients who may cause serious harm through their unfitness to drive."

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Logically the law of compulsory disclosure should be to extend to patients deemed unfit to drive or fly, he writes.

"The GMC, whose new guidance on confidentiality comes into effect on 25 April 2017, should consider making disclosure to the DVLA mandatory, even the patient confirms that this has been or will be done.

"To rely on the assurances of patients, in the knowledge that they - like most of us - lie to please others and to get out of trouble, is naive and irresponsible. It can also cost lives."

But he added: "Poppy-Arabella's parents are calling for this strict disclosure policy to become law.

"Such a policy may dissuade patients from disclosing information that they would otherwise reveal if secrecy was guaranteed.

"Yet secrecy is not guaranteed at present: it can be breached if the patient refuses to discharge his or her legal obligation to inform the DVLA or if the doctor discovers that the patient is still driving.

"The difference is that doctors would no longer rely on the unverified promises of the patient.

"They would automatically tell the DVLA that the patient is unfit to drive.

"This new law would not erode doctor-patient confidentiality.

"It offers a solution to the reluctance of impaired drivers to appreciate the danger they pose to others, as well as the recognition that some patients will deceive to continue driving."